The grind of professional tennis never truly softens, but when motherhood enters the story, it reshapes everything. Caroline Wozniacki’s triumphant return, toppling Tatiana Prozorova, and Belinda Bencic’s victorious comeback at the 2025 Abu Dhabi Open prove that fire never fades; it only burns differently. Yet, no comeback echoes louder than Serena Williams, who redefined greatness by conquering slams, turning resilience into legacy. Now, eyes turn to the next generation: Jessica Pegula and Madison Keys, as the question lingers like a rally that never ends: can they summon the same hunger, the same fight, when motherhood calls? Well, they’ve made their stance clear.

In a sport where the grind never truly ends, the question of returning after motherhood cuts deeper than any forehand. In a recent episode of The Player’s Box Podcast, two of America’s finest,  Jessica Pegula and Madison Keys, spoke candidly about whether they’d ever consider coming back to the tour after maternity.

Madison Keys, the reigning Australian Open champion, didn’t hesitate when asked. “I don’t see that happening,” she said bluntly, before admitting, “I also feel like I have a hard enough time traveling and like keeping myself on a schedule. I can’t imagine adding a baby to that like for all people involved.” The honesty in her words painted the picture of a life already stretched thin, a world built on constant flights, shifting time zones, and never-ending physical demands.

She continued, her tone mixing admiration and exhaustion. “I just feel like it would be really really hard,” Keys added. “And I’m so impressed at all of the moms on tour who do it. Especially like there’s a few that have multiple children and everything and it’s just like yeah it’s totally fine like no problem and I’m like I can’t function like how are you managing playing like jet lag training enough all of the things and then it’s like you’re also a mom like all of the time how do you do that.”

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Jessica Pegula, too, kept it straight and simple. “No,” she said. “There’s no chance I would come back after having a kid.” Her voice carried no hesitation, only respect. “I admire and respect the ones that do, but that’s just not in the cards for me. I cannot see myself doing that at all.” Both women spoke from a place of realism, not rejection of motherhood, but recognition of its weight in a sport that demands complete devotion.

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That’s where the conversation circles back to the legend who changed the conversation entirely: Serena Williams. She returned to professional tennis just eight months after giving birth to her daughter, Olympia, battling through health complications that included a life-threatening pulmonary embolism. Even before that, she was two months pregnant when she defeated her sister Venus in the 2017 Australian Open final, sealing her 23rd major and breaking Steffi Graf’s Open Era record.

Serena once said, “I never questioned my return.” Her belief became the blueprint for what was possible, proof that motherhood could coexist with greatness. Today, players like Taylor Townsend, another American balancing tour life and motherhood, carry that torch forward. 

Yet, as Pegula and Keys made clear, not every path is meant to mirror Serena’s. The grind is relentless, the balance unforgiving, and in the end, every woman writes her own story, in tennis and in life.

Taylor Townsend reflects on juggling motherhood and her tennis career

Just like Serena Williams, Taylor Townsend stands at the crossroads of two relentless worlds: motherhood and professional tennis. And does it sound easy? Hardly. Before this year’s US Open, Townsend peeled back the curtain on her daily chaos, revealing the tug-of-war between chasing trophies and raising her young son, Adyn. “And then on top of that, it’s like pick up from school and got to wake up at 6 am, then you gotta leave, pack a lunch box, pack a snack, I need a uniform, where are my shoes, like I am tired,” she confessed. Her exhaustion was raw, her words real. “And oh, on top of that, remember when I got here and I said Oh, I gotta unpack. Oh what? Pack! My suitcases are so packed from the last couple of weeks, so I gotta unpack that and then for New York again.”

Her voice carried both humor and truth, the portrait of a mother fighting time, fatigue, and expectation. Yet, beneath the weariness, there was steel. Townsend’s determination to keep going, to make room for both her dreams and her son, echoed that of Serena before her, women redefining what strength means in sport.

Even earlier this year, in June, Townsend spoke candidly about the emotional toll of juggling both worlds. Through a series of Instagram stories, she wrote, “I’m always a positive person, but you know I always pride myself on being real.” That day, she admitted feeling low, confronting moments of personal struggle, especially when it came to those she loves most.

She didn’t sugarcoat the battle. “We don’t have the luxury as athletes to kind of, like, bring that sh-t out and, you know, feel it,” she said, underlining the constant pressure to stay composed, to perform, to endure.

For Townsend, like Serena, the journey is a balancing act between heart and hunger. Each day brings a new challenge: a school run, a flight, a forehand. Yet, the fire remains.

And as the tour grinds on, perhaps one day, stars like Jessica Pegula and Madison Keys might feel that same pull, that chance to return after motherhood. Because if there’s one thing motherhood in tennis has proven, it’s that love and ambition can share the same court, even when the odds don’t.